“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” – Matthew 2:16-18

This part of the Bible has to be one of the saddest that anyone can read! It is sad because on account of one man’s wrath, insecurity, and pride, many babies were slaughtered so that the threat to his throne would be eliminated. As a parent, I can’t imagine having one of my kids ripped from my arms and killed by an army that could easily overpower me. There would literally be very little that I could do to stop it and I imagine I would be left weeping and mourning and not able to be comforted! Every time that I read this passage I try to imagine, but can’t fully, the horror that overtook that entire area by the atrocity of the killings.

Because of this king’s wrath, many were killed, but yet Jesus was saved!

As I have tried to fathom what the parents of the kids that were killed were going through, the thought didn’t escape me of what Joseph and Mary had to be going through as well. Many kids were killed because of their son’s birth! They were warned by God to leave so that Jesus would be safe, but why weren’t the other parents warned? What did they do to deserve this? Why did their children have to die? I wonder if Joseph and Mary thought these things as they had to hear about the slaughter.

I know that this event fulfilled prophecy so that Jesus could be saved when He couldn’t make the choice for Himself, so that one day at age 33 He

could make the choice to die for our redemption (see 1 Timothy 1:15). He was saved from the wrath of Herod so that He one day would take the wrath of God upon Himself for our sins. In fact, Jesus became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14

).

God flipped the story! God’s wrath was put on Jesus so that all can be saved!

Jesus had to be born like He was (to a virgin) so He could die like He did (all God but still all man). Christ’s birth was the greatest ever and His death was the most amazing act of sacrifice, but the best part of the story is that we now have life, joy, and hope through Jesus!

This Christmas season, I hope that you will live this life to the fullest and appreciate every moment! We have been given the greatest gift already – enjoy it!

I hope that you have a great Christmas season and don’t forget that we have one morning service at 10:30 AM this Sunday and our Christmas Eve service begins at 6 PM!